Daly Mansion Spring Speaker Series Reveals History

The next four weekends will provide glimpses into the past at Hamilton's Daly Mansion. The annual free spring Speaker Series will be every March Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at the mansion's Trophy Room. The first presentation will be "Gold! Gunslingers and Grammar School" with Jennifer Pak portraying school teacher Lucia Darling, who lived in the Montana Gold Rush times at Grasshopper Creek, with characters like Henry Plummer and the Vigilantes.

March 16 will be about "The Bitterroot Salish" with mansion history volunteer Bruce Gould, who will talk about how the native people lived in the area for thousands of years. How they interacted with the explorers and settlers led to what the Bitterroot has become today. March 23 will uncover some new information from the "Daly Family Letters" from the Mansfield Library archives. Mansion history volunteer Maureen Lischke has new information about early life at the Daly Mansion and Bitter Root Stock Farm - some of it conflicts with accepted stories of the past. March 30 will wrap up the series with "Kid Gloves and Brass Knuckles." Mary Jane Bradbury will have a presentation of Charlie Russell's wife, Nancy Cooper Russell, who helped him become a financial success with his art. Each presentation starts at 10 a.m. and they're free!